


You Can't Keep Secrets

by possiblyobsessed



Series: IronDad and SpiderSon + the Avengers + Ignoring Infinity War [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: 5+1 Things, Fluff, Gen, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-10
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-08-21 09:57:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16574303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possiblyobsessed/pseuds/possiblyobsessed
Summary: The Avengers know about Peter Parker and Spider-Man, but not that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. And, well, everyone knows Peter can't keep a secret.OrFive times the Avengers suspect Peter is Spider-Man and the one time they find out.





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> This work will make more sense if you read the prior fics in the series.

Watching conspiracy theories had always been one of Natasha’s guilty pleasures. Not because she thought any of them were accurate. In fact, it wasn’t even watching the conspiracies that interested her. She watched them to give herself ideas. To set a challenge for herself. If the theory seemed to have enough basis then she would do her own research into them, prove them true or false. She had a perfect record for figuring out government conspiracies, they were always the easiest to crack.

While they had been on the run it hadn’t really been easy to keep her hobby secret. She wasn’t quite sure why she had been so embarrassed for the others to find out. Maybe it’s just because it was so against her image, conspiracy theories were so ridiculous and unserious. The opposite of her. But in the end the others finding out had been a terrific thing. It turned out Sam was really interested in solving unsolved mysteries, thus making his own theories, Wanda just found them amusing and Steve ended up learning more about the last seventy years through YouTube videos than he did through actual historical research.

And so it ended up becoming a thing. Whenever they had some down time or they weren’t in any danger of having to pack up and go again they would sit down and watch conspiracy theories. Nat would take notes on theories she wanted to crack, Sam would take notes on theories he wanted to extend, Steve would take notes on anything he didn’t recognise and Wanda would take notes on any theories she thought were particularly interesting or any channels she thought were really good. Their favourite theory to date was that the Avengers were Illuminati leaders. It went something along the lines of them being so influential that no one would question it when they took over the world. According to the theory they were more powerful than the government, which wasn’t all that false.

They had only had a Conspiracy Night once since they arrived at the compound almost two months ago. So it was obviously due time for another one. Since Tony wasn’t at the compound for the night, and they were all still reeling from the events of the day, they decided it was the perfect time to have one. Wanda, Nat and Sam had set up the room like their own personal police station; there was pens and papers lining the tables, a stack of cases they had already solved, a camera (which was just for show) and a large amount of popcorn. Steve was still in too much shock to actually help. He was having a very hard time believing that a fifteen year old had punched him. (“A fifteen year old, Natasha!”). Nat was actually rather impressed with Peter. He didn’t look as though he’d be able to throw a punch to save himself, yet he had managed to leave a bruise on Steve’s face. Granted the bruise had only lasted about an hour, but Steve was a superhuman and Peter was not, Peter was a scrawny teenager. Nat appreciated strength.

The thought of Peter made her kind of desperate to get to know him. She didn’t know what it was about him, but there was definitely something. Maybe it was that he had punched Steve. Maybe it was that he seemed interesting. Very protective of Tony. The truth was probably just that she really liked children. It wasn’t as if it was a secret, she loved hanging out with the Barton children, but she felt like she should have a reason to get to know the children.

“Do you think Tony would want to join Conspiracy Night?” Nat thought he would. Tony Stark was either the type of person to secretly be a conspiracy nut or to completely hate them. They could also invite Rhodey and Peter to join them. Rhodey would most likely enjoy them, and all teenagers did, right? Vision would obviously be invited to, in fact she didn’t know why he wasn’t there tonight. He would be good at solving the theories, since he was connected to the whole internet.

“He isn’t here,” Sam replied.

“I know, but I think we should invite him to join the next one.”

“I agree,” Wanda said.

Sam and Steve nodded their agreement. It was settled. In her head Conspiracy Night was their new Movie Night. Nat smiled, maybe she could pull her family back together.

They started with a video of how the moon landing was faked. This had become one of Steve’s favourite theories, because he got to learn so much about space exploration through people trying to disprove it. And definitely not because he still had a hard time believing that people had actually managed to get to the moon. From there the videos only got weirder and weirder, until eventually they got to the superhero conspiracy theories. Soon the video loading was about who Spider-Man was.

“Argh, stop the video! I don’t care who this spider punk really is,” Sam complained.

Wanda laughed, “You’re only bitter because he tore you apart at the airport battle.”

Sam rolled his eyes, but he didn’t say anything else.

The video ended up being a very long winded explanation of the relationship between Iron Man and Spider-Man and how they often teamed up and worked together. There was lots of pictures and videos that brave, or stupid, civilians had managed to get close enough to their battles to capture. Videos had also been pulled from the news to find their place in the conspiracy, they were the kind of thing that had onlookers describing how and what Iron Man and Spider-Man said to each other during and after the fights. A lot of it was just people gushing how cute they were together and how Tony always looked so proud of Spider-Man. It then went on to present the theory that Spider-Man was actually Tony’s illegitimate son. This was backed up by stories of his wild party days which ‘proved’ Spider-Man was related to Tony Stark.

It actually got Nat thinking, “What if both his kids were the same person?” she wondered aloud.

Sam raised an eyebrow, as if that was any less plausible than half the theories he came up with, “You think the scrawny little kid we met today is Spider-Man?”

Steve frowned, “Speaking as someone who has been hit by Peter and fought Spider-Man, I think I can safely assume they are different people.”

Natasha shrugged. She knew it was an unlikely stretch, there was literally nothing to say Peter and Spider-Man had anything to do with each other besides the fact that they both knew Tony. And he apparently acted like a dad for both of them. Anyway, she couldn’t be upset with someone for wanting to have a secret identity. There were so many reasons she could list off the top of her head as to why that would be convenient.

\---

Nat and Wanda were in the training room when Tony walked in on Monday morning. He had arrived back at the compound the previous night after dinner. No one had had much of a chance to talk to him but he had been in extremely good spirits. He still looked happy as he walked in. Nat stopped punching the dummy in front of her and turned to Wanda just in time to see her mouth ‘Ask him’. Nat nodded.

“Hey Tony,” she called out.

Tony turned to look at her, “Yeah?”

“We were wondering if you wanted to join us next time we have a Conspiracy Night?”

“A what?”

“It’s a night where we all watch conspiracy theories and try to figure them out,” Wanda explained.

Tony raised an eyebrow, “You’re into conspiracies Romanoff?”

“And you seem to be into getting your arse kicked,” she said, complete with a sickly sweet smile.

“You know what? I think I will join you next time. You’ll have to let me know in advance though, I’m a busy man.”

If she hadn’t known him better Nat would have sworn he smiled as he turned away and suited up.


	2. 2

After the disastrous first meeting, Wanda had assumed it would be sometime before Peter would be back at the compound. She was glad that Tony hadn’t been angry at them, since she was fairly sure they had ruined his plans for the weekend. He’d seemed so happy when he got back though, and Peter went unmentioned. So, naturally, she hadn’t been expecting to find him when she walked outside. 

The Compound’s grounds were absolutely gorgeous with their lush grass and full trees. They attracted a fair amount of wildlife to, the squirrels were Wanda’s favourite. She’d found that she rather enjoyed taking some time out from the busy life of the Compound to come and sit alone in the grass. But it looked like today she would have company, in the form of a young boy sitting alone at one of the many benches that littered the lawn.

She walked over and sat down across from him. He didn’t notice her at first, he was engrossed in the large book he was reading. Other books and papers were scattered in front of him. There was also three empty mugs, all of which had stained rims that told her they were once filled with hot chocolate, and a fourth full mug that contained even more of the drink. Either Peter really liked hot chocolate or he wanted to stay awake.

For whatever reason, Peter decided to look up and his eyes widened. Wanda didn’t know why, she was sure she didn’t warrant that reaction. Frankly, she thinks that looks like admiration in his eyes, but there is no way his impressed by her. She’s only Scarlet Witch, she isn’t one of the popular Avengers and she fought against the boy’s father. It would be understandable if he didn’t like her.

“Hi,” she said softly.

She bit her lip to stifle laughter when he looked behind him, as though there might be someone else she was talking to. He turned back and opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Hi. Hey, I’m Peter.”

“Wanda.”

He nodded, “I know. I mean… well you’re kind of awesome. Totally badass, but I promised myself I wouldn’t get nervous around any of you because you hurt Dad, so I’m trying not to turn into a mess. And I’m failing miserably. Okay.” He nodded again and pulled the book up in front of his face, effectively hiding himself.

He was adorable. Completely and utterly adorable. And he thought she was badass. And she really needed to stop making assumptions about Starks because they always ended up wrong. She liked Tony. She liked Peter. Weeks ago she had thought she would hate to meet Tony’s son. Now she really wanted to be friends with him. She shook her head.

Wanda noticed that he was watching her over his book. She smiled, “I’m sorry. What are you doing?” she had a feeling she would have to start conversations with the apparently shy young boy.

“Homework,” he pointed to the title of the book.

Wanda got half way through the title before deciding it was well beyond her level of intellect. Or she was too lazy to. That wasn’t anyone’s business.

He looked at her with eyes that reminded her of a puppy. She could see why Tony came back so happy. “What are you doing?” he asked.

Wanda shrugged, “I like the quiet out here.”

“But you sat with me.”

She nodded, “I want to get to know you.”

Peter didn’t talk, but he did look like he would listen to her. She began to mindlessly talk. She found herself on a rant about how gorgeous and clean the compound was, like no one actually lived in it. She had no idea if he agreed or not, but she could tell he was listening. Soon she could hear Sam calling for her from some distance. It was training time.

Peter nodded as she waved goodbye to him. She stood up, but as she turned to walk away she knocked one of the empty cups, which rolled over and hit another cup. Two cups were falling from the table and she lifted her hands, she knew she could catch them easily. It turned out she didn’t have to though. Peter already had. He held one in each hand. Wanda was taken back, she looked at the boy carefully and he offered her a sought of guilty smile, like he couldn’t really explain what had just happened but he would definitely try. She decided not to ask. Instead, she headed over to Sam.

“Enjoy your homework, Peter,” she called back.

The sound he made in reply certainly suggested that he would not enjoy it.

\---

Nat and Wanda sat in the lounge room. Harry Potter played on the television, but it was mostly just for background noise. They had found a pile of all eight movies when they walked in and decided just to put them on. Nat was painting Wanda’s nails for her and Wanda was telling Nat about talking to Peter that morning. 

“Sounds like his got good reflexes,” Nat hummed.

Sam came hurtling into the room, “Is this Peter we’re talking about? Because damn, that kid has good reflexes.”

Both women gave him a look that said: and how would you know this?

Before he answered, Sam turned around and closed the door. He walked over and dropped into an armchair, “Tony thinks I ate the last of his dark chocolate,” he explained and nodded to the closed the door. “Anyway, I was sitting in the study and Peter was in there as well. I guess he was doing homework or something. As I was leaving I threw a piece of paper towards the bin, but it veered off course and it was about to hit him in the back of the head and he just caught it without looking. And I thought that was really impressive, so I threw an eraser at him-”

“You threw something at him?” Wanda cut him off.

Sam shrugged, “Yeah, but do you know what? He caught this one to. And then he turned around and gave me this weird look. So I threw a pencil at him, wanting to see just how good his reflexes are. So, he was actually looking at it this time but he caught it to. Granted he fumbled and fell off the chair to do so, but he still caught it.”

Wanda rolled her and shot Sam an exasperated look. Meanwhile, Nat was quietly putting pieces together in her head. She knew her theory was somewhat far-fetched, but since she had first put forward the suggestion, she was almost sure Peter Parker had something to do with Spider-Man. Part of her was very, very convinced he was Spider-Man.

She hummed, “You know who else has really good reflexes? Spider-Man.”

Sam snorted. For someone who found so much joy in creating his own conspiracy theories, it was very hard to convince him of anything. And he seemed to be completely against the idea of Peter being Spider-Man. She wanted to branch the topic to him, but he appeared to hate it.

“They’ve got a lot of similarities.”

Even Wanda looked unconvinced, “The only similarities we know of are that they both know Tony and they both have good reflexes. Actually, do we even know if Spider-Man has good reflexes?”

Nat nodded. She knew there wasn’t much basis for it, and it definitely wasn’t worth an argument, so she agreed to let it rest. Still, an idea was forming in her mind. Maybe she would have to do some research into it herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Anyway, once again I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update, but exams are finished now so updates will be frequent again.  
> Thanks so much to all of the readers, your support means so much.  
> Also, if there is any Spideychelle fans reading, you guys should check out the one shot I wrote, Marry Me.


	3. 3

The lab was quite a mess. Especially after the experiments of the last few hours. It was probably lucky he had moved all of his things out of Tony’s lab and into the one next door, which was now his. He still enjoyed using his dad’s though.

Peter looked through his notes. He couldn’t understand why this wasn’t working. He had been so sure of this method. The equation taunted him from the page. This needed to be done by tomorrow, he wanted to show Shuri his newest web fluid. The only problem was that said web fluid was not working. Not how he wanted it to. Maybe he should wait, get Shuri’s advice and then they could make it together, but then they wouldn’t get to work on the newest version of her stealth shoes like they had decided to. And stealth shoes were interesting. This was tedious.

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. Things would probably fall into place for him if he wasn’t so stressed, but unfortunately he was very worried about his father alone upstairs with people who had hurt him. Rhodey was away visiting his family for the weekend, Vision was, well he actually didn’t know where Vision was, and he had been sent down stairs while the adults ‘talked’. That probably meant an argument (or official Avengers Business, but he wanted to listen to that). It was a little irrational. His dad had told him that they had all apologised for their actions. So, they were unlikely to purposely upset him anymore, but that didn’t mean they could be trusted.

Peter was going to decide when they could be trusted. That was exactly why he really should be upstairs right now, so he could listen and decide who really seemed sorry. The only ex-rogue he had really talked to was Wanda. He didn’t know if she could be trusted, but he could tell from the way she talked about how frustratingly lifeless she found the compound that she planned on staying. Which also meant she didn’t plan on breaking Tony’s trust again. He wanted confirmation of that, he wanted confirmation from all of them.

He scratched out half of his equation only to rewrite the exact same thing. Sixth time is a charm. He began to mix the formula, his manner was probably a bit too rough, but he had to take his frustration out on something. The failed attempts sat in front of him. Attempt number one: to wet. Attempt number two: disintegrated too fast. Attempt number three: well, that one shrank. Attempt number four: green, it was green, and, quite frankly, aesthetic mattered. Attempt number five: too sticky, he couldn’t even get it out from the beaker. Looking back at them, he realised it was possible that he hadn’t been using the same formula every time like he thought. And now attempt number six was swelling at a very fast rate in front of him. Like, about to explode fast.

Shit.

\---

The air in the kitchen was still and thick. Tony drummed his fingers against the table, Sam had his feet kicked up on the table, next to Wanda who was sitting on it with her face cupped in her hands, Steve had his arms folded on the table and Nat paced around behind him. Although things had been sailing relatively smoothly as of late, and everyone was on somewhat better terms, talks about missions always seemed to bring out the arguments. That was why Tony had sent Peter down to his lab. If it had been like meetings used to be, when they always reached an agreement and were fairly civil, he would have let him stay. Peter probably would have found the old Avengers meetings very interesting.

This meeting had actually been going surprisingly well. Until they started talking about group strategy for their next outing. Natasha and Steve were firmly convinced that they should all stay together during missions until bonds had been fully mended. Sam, Wanda and Tony thought that splitting up was the best option for sneaking around and going unnoticed. It wasn’t like it had been a full out argument, but it had been enough disagreement to be able to tell that they weren’t really a ‘team’ yet.

Sam let out a loud sigh, “You know what’s good for team morale? Food. I’m thinking Chinese, unless there’s something else people want.”

Steve couldn’t help but grin at Sam’s ability to relieve tension in every situation. Even if it was a little sarcastic. But everyone seemed in the mood for food and soon they were all spread out around the kitchen. Sam and Wanda were fighting over a menu, so Tony had decided he would wait until they were done. Natasha and Steve already knew what they wanted, they got the same thing every time. Wanda could still remember the time she had suggested trying new things and they had both stared her down until she said she was wrong.

“Hey Friday, can you tell Peter to come up and eat?” Tony asked.

“No Boss, you turned me off in Peter’s lab. You didn’t want him to be able to hack into me and see what the meeting was about,” the AI sounded surprisingly smug. Like she was glad that Peter could do that.

“Oh,” Tony said lamely.

“Oh, so he’s that smart?” Sam raised an eyebrow and snatched the menu out of Wanda’s hands.

“I can go get him,” Steve offered, “I already know what I want.”

Tony narrowed his eyes. He didn’t really want Steve to be anywhere near Peter. Especially not when he couldn’t keep an eye on him. But he didn’t want to be selfish, and Peter probably really wanted to meet Captain America. Even if he had punched him. He frowned, “Fine. But don’t do anything stupid, or he might punch you again.” Tony knew there was no way that Peter would punch him again, but it still felt incredibly good to say.

Steve nodded and headed to the door. He wandered through empty hallways, his steps echoed off every wall. His shadow loomed in every direction. He couldn’t help but wonder what it look like if they had never left. If all of them had been there from the beginning of the compound and had it stylised. If Bruce and Thor were here. If Clint, Scott and Bucky paid regular visits. If the Avengers initiative had been kept open and there was more than just them that could call the compound home.

It took almost walking into a wall to pull him from these thoughts. It also took almost walking into a wall for him to realise that he didn’t know where Peter’s lab was. It would be too embarrassing to go back up to ask Tony now, so he decided to continue in the direction he was going. He was fairly sure Peter’s lab would be near Tony’s.

He arrived at the labs and tried the door next to Tony’s lab. The handle turned normally but he found he couldn’t push it open with a normal amount of force. He tried again, this time applying more pressure. The door opened very slowly.

Steve felt his jaw drop. The whole lab, almost every inch of it, was covered in large, sticky, greenish spider webs. He could hardly see anything through it, which is why it took him a minute to find the child stuck beneath it.

“Peter?” he called, as he cautiously stepped over webs towards the figure.

“No,” a voice that was definitely Peter replied drily, “It’s just some other kid Tony hangs out with.”

Steve nodded, Peter really seemed to hate him. Not that he could blame him. But he intended to make it up to Peter, the same way he would make it up to Tony. “What happened?” he reached out and touched some of the webbing, only to discover he had to rip his hand away. “This looks like Spiderman’s webs.” It was an offhanded comment, but Peter coughed under the webs. Steve headed over to help him.

“That’s because I am…” Peter paused, and so did Steve, it was awkward considering he held one of Peter’s arms halfway in the air, it almost sounded as though Peter was going to say he was the wall-crawler. “I am, well I am, making webs for him. You know? I mean Dad basically provides for him and well I help make the webbing sometimes, because Spider-Man is a cool dude, but he needs help.”

Steve pulled a blushing, sticky Peter from the webs, “So I, uh, well I guess this formula didn’t work,” Peter mumbled.

Steve nodded.

Peter was bright red for the rest of the night. When they had reached the kitchen Tony had had a good laugh and Steve had explained to everyone what had happened. It ended up being the most amusing part of the day. Even if it did succeed in making Nat more suspicious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support, hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	4. 4

Steve, Sam, Wanda and Natasha had quickly discovered what T’Challa and Tony already knew. Together, Peter and Shuri were not just scary, but a force of nature to be reckoned with. Tony didn’t think he had ever seen Nat so unable to deal with a situation. When the Wakandans had first arrived the teenagers had disappeared to Peter’s, newly cleaned, lab. When they had decided to join civilisation again the adults hadn’t even noticed. Shuri and Peter had stepped into the training room without a sound, all thanks to their improved design of the stealth shoes. Tony was beginning to think they were taking advantage of being some of the only people to have access to both his resources and Wakanda’s.

Next, they had started a small fire in the kitchen while they tried to remake aesthetic Pinterest food, which was apparently a thing. This wouldn’t have been quite so terrible if the two had noticed, but it wasn’t until Sam ended up with burns on his arm that anyone realised the stove was close to exploding. Peter and Shuri had thought it would be smart to defend themselves. Apparently it was absolutely necessary that they stir the sparkly pink icing for just the right amount of time and they couldn’t take their eyes of it. Even if the whole room smelled like smoke. Naturally, they had been banned from the kitchen.

Unfortunately, this only led them to decide it would be fun to paint a whole room with glow in the dark paint. None of the adults had any idea where they had found this supply of paint. They had probably made it. Sam had decided he didn’t like genius children, and, after seeing what they had done, T’Challa and Tony were close to agreeing. Because, now the lounge room, where Shuri and Peter had (rather agreeably) been confined to, was a blinding fluro yellow. And all of the adults were sitting two levels away trying to have a mature discussion as they ignored the crashing sounds that came from the direction of the lounge room.

\---

Shuri collapsed dramatically over the back of an armchair. Peter stood of the other side of the room, his arm raised and his makeshift wand pointed at Shuri. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire played in the background. The entire room glowed, showing off the mess that had been made. Pillows were strewn all over the place, one of the couches had been knocked over, the coffee table had been flipped and there were skittles lying all over the place. In the corner the two broomsticks that they had made (using Tony’s repulsor technology) waited to be used. They could only fly about five feet at this stage, but they would get around to improving them.

While Peter was busy celebrating his victory over Shuri she rose up slowly and set her kimoyo beads to video. She grinned to herself. She knew Peter hated this, but it never failed to amuse her.

“Hey Peter,” she called, “The floor is lava.”

Peter let out a squeak and jumped about a meter and a half in the air. He crash landed, sprawled out across three pillows. Shuri couldn’t even finish her countdown because she was laughing too hard. It took all her effort to reach up and turn off the video.

When she calmed down she walked over and offered him a hand. He grumbled the whole way up and continued to do so until he sat down on one of the still upright chairs.

Shuri shook her head, “If you hate the game so much you shouldn’t take it so seriously.”

Peter frowned and looked at her with mockingly sad eyes, “It’s a dead game Shuri! Dead! And you’re also just taking advantage of my powers for your amusement.”

“It’s true,” she agreed, “In fact, I’m one picture away from having a perfect Peter Parker mood board. It won’t be as good as T’Challa’s, but then I wouldn’t expect it to be.”

Peter grinned slightly, “Can I see T’Challa’s?”

\---

It wasn’t until Sam saw Tony and Steve on their phones that he realised he had no idea where his was. After he had finished grumbling to himself about it, he stood and began to look around. The others were all to engulfed in their own activities to notice him as he manoeuvred around them and searched over and under everything. He trekked off to check the other rooms.

Kitchen? No.

Labs? No.

Training room? No.

Bedroom? No.

Lounge room? N-

“Oh come on!” he groaned.

The memory came back now, he had left it in there after the morning news. And it just had to be in the room that the devil’s spawn had taken control of. It wasn’t that he didn’t like either kid, in fact he thought they were both pretty cool for teenagers. Sure they were annoying, clingy, often got in the way and- anyway, the point was just yesterday he had laughed at the idea of timid little Peter being able to cause any large amounts of trouble. He hadn’t paid attention to Tony’s warning about what Shuri and Peter were like. But he wished he had.

Which reminded him, they were going to be in so much trouble if his phone was wrecked. He couldn’t remember the last time he had walked so fast. But he really didn’t want to have a broken phone. Or to spend any longer in the bright yellow room than he had to. This was becoming his own personal mission. Get in, secure the phone, survive the children. Do it fast.

He almost laughed at the idea of how seriously he was taking this. Yet, when he opened the door all he could do was gape. The room was even more of a mess. Sam didn’t even know if he could make it into the room, there was that much scattered over the ground. And yes, the walls were still yellow.

As he scanned the room for his phone, he realised he couldn’t see Shuri and Peter in the mess. He was about to ask Friday when he heard laughter. Laughter that was coming from above him. Sam looked up. The two teenagers were on broomsticks? Yes, yes those were definitely broomsticks. He shook his head, but then he spotted his phone safely nestled in a pile of pillows. Bingo.

He made his way across the room and waved back when Peter began to enthusiastically say hello to him. Peter was so caught up in greeting Sam that he didn’t notice the wall. At least, not until he hit it.

“Ouch,” he winced.

While Shuri sped over to Peter, Sam grabbed his phone. He figured Shuri was going to help Peter so he didn’t need to.

But, when Shuri got to Peter instead of offering a hand she shouted, “Floor is lava, Baby Stark!”

Sam backed out of the room as Peter scrambled up at high speed. Sam did not need to be involved in this. Peter jumped onto the wall. Onto the wall? Okay, so he wasn’t exactly sure, but wasn’t the point of the game to stay off the floor? Didn’t Peter know he would slip straight off the wall? Except Peter didn’t slip off the wall.

Sam blinked. Peter was in a pile on the ground again. Sam nodded to himself and left the room. Peter had stuck to the wall, he was sure of it. But at the same time he was so unsure of it. Obviously, Peter couldn’t stick to the wall. That wasn’t possible. Unless…

Unless Nat was right and the scrawny little kid was Spider-Man. But Sam didn’t want Peter to be Spider-Man. Because he had fought Spider-Man, and if Spider-Man was a kid. No, no he didn’t want that guilt. He didn’t want to be responsible for fighting a child. He didn’t want to be responsible for fighting Peter Parker, who just seemed so small.

He reached the conclusion that it was all just a trick of the light. The bright, glow in the dark, yellow light. Because Peter couldn’t stick to walls and Spider-Man couldn’t be a kid. Sam didn’t want that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now we know why Sam doesn't want Peter to be Spider-Man.  
> As always, thanks for all the support!


	5. 5

Peter had been to the compound multiple times. He always stayed for the whole weekend and he was almost always talking when he was with people he knew. Despite this, the process of getting to know him was slow, much like the process of fixing things with Tony. But both situations were coming around.

It didn’t upset Nat all that much that Peter was guarded. He was clearly very protective of Tony, which was nice. The way Peter, Tony and Pepper interacted, it was like they were a little family. Even Vision, Rhodey and Happy, when he was there, were part of their little family. It was nice. It made Nat long for her own family, which only made her more determined to get to the bottom of Peter and pull the Avengers family back together. Even if it did take a while.

It was one in the morning when she headed up to the roof. It wasn’t quite a ridiculous time yet, but she still hadn’t been expecting to find anyone up there. Especially not Peter Parker, who was supposed to be in Queens. The teen was wrapped up in a sweater and sat right on the edge, his legs dangling off the roof. 

Nat really didn’t think that was safe, considering what she had seen of the boy’s coordination. She scanned the roof, but the only other thing on it was a backpack, leaned against the fire escape.

She contemplated leaving, but then decided this would be the perfect chance to talk to him. Even if she should probably be telling him off for being awake so late. She approached him slowly, the last thing she wanted was to scare him.

“What are you doing up, Peter?”

He didn’t turn around, “Awake or up here?”

“Both,” Nat replied after a moment of hesitation. She walked over and sat next to him.

“I couldn’t sleep. I come here sometimes when I can’t sleep,” he whispered.

She didn’t think it was a lie. Not exactly. But she knew it wasn’t the truth. He had omitted some information. She turned to face him, “You come here from Queens, just because you can’t sleep?”

“Well, ye-”

“Can you even drive?” She asked.

She knew she had caught him in his lie, but she wasn’t going to press any further. The truth had a way of coming out. Beside her, Peter shifted uncomfortably and she finally got a better view of his face. Even through the dark she could make out three things: he was blushing bright red, there was bags under his eyes and there was a large bruise across his left jaw. Judging by what she could see, she would assume someone had kicked him. There was a bit of an internal struggle, but she decided it was best not to ask about it.

“So, why can’t you sleep?”

“Stressed. About school I suppose. And I like the stars, so I come here.”

Nat hummed, “I like the stars. But I don’t know much about them.”

Peter laughed slightly. He couldn’t believe the Black Widow liked stars. He pointed out his favourite constellation.

It was an interesting night for Nat. She had never expected that the thing that would let her get to know Stark’s kid would be stars. And not just the facts, because it turned out Peter was also a huge astrology geek. They had discussed all solar related things, including both their theories on aliens, until Peter was about to fall asleep. Nat left so that he could get home however he had got there, without having to explain it to her.

\---

It had become routine that they eat their breakfast in the lounge room. Pepper and Vision didn’t like the idea too much, because it could sometimes be messy. But, if there was one thing that Steve and Tony could agree on, it was that the best way to start the day was to watch the news. That was why everyone was in the room when the report changed to scenes of Spider-Man fighting the night before.

Red and blue zoomed across the screen. A group of robbers were attempting to get away. Even though they appeared to be well prepared they were clearly overpowered by the vigilante. Another thing she noticed was that Spider-Man had a far better fighting technique than he had in Leipzig. It was more refined and precise. She was impressed, especially if he was really Peter, who tripped over his own feet.

The others were discussing the hero’s improved technique, how they would have fought and whether or not the robbers were enhanced or not. Tony watched quietly in the corner. Nat didn’t take her eyes off the screen. There had to be some proof here, and she had to find it and…

There! One of the robbers spun quickly and landed a boot square on Spider-Man’s face. Right across his left jaw. Right where Peter’s own bruise was. Nat smirked, she had known from the start, but now there was no doubt. She wanted to talk to Tony about it, but Peter hadn’t told anyone and nor had any of the others, so she assumed they weren’t supposed to talk about it.

“Boss,” Friday’s voice startled them all, Wanda nearly falling out of her chair, “Spider-Man is fighting two mutants just outside Brooklyn, he appears to be in distress.”

“Damn, how many fights does this dude get into?” Sam murmured.

Tony shot up immediately, “Bring up the footage and call him.” He walked out of the room and Nat assumed he was headed to the conference room, where there was a big screen that he had probably connected to everything.

She waited for someone to ask why Tony received notice when Spider-Man fought. Why Tony cared so much about the vigilante. But no one asked. Rhodey left the room after Tony and everyone else continued to watch the news, where an old man was being interviewed. He was going on a rather amusing rant about how everyone thought they were a superhero these days. Nat didn’t care about that though, what she really wanted was to make sure the star obsessed boy was okay. She stood and left the room.

It didn’t take long to reach the conference room and she slipped in unnoticed.

“You know what most people do when they’re unprepared? Do you?” Tony paced the room.

“YOLO it?” Peter’s voice came through. 

On the screen Nat saw webs shoot out and trap someone. The screen must show what Peter could see. Smart.

“Look, I’m sorry Dad. But I’m fine. It’s only like a scratch. A little one. And look I webbed them both. So I was prepared. Kinda.” Peter could blabber even during fights. Impressive.

Tony ran his hands through his hair, “It is not just a scratch you’re bleeding.”

“What? No I’m not. Look I got to go. Thanks though, bye, see you.” The call ended, and left Tony looking rather offended.

“So it is Peter.” Nat stated. Tony jumped in surprise and Rhodey whipped around to look at her.

Tony gaped for a bit. Rhodey frowned, “You weren’t supposed to follow. You weren’t supposed to know.”

She rolled her eyes, “I already knew.”

“But how?” Tony asked.

Nat laughed, “You and Peter can’t keep secrets. We’re the Avengers, we can find anything out,” panic crossed Tony’s face, “The others don’t know,” she cleared up.

Tony nodded. Then he swore. But then he grinned, “I always assumed you’d know first.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the support!!!  
> Hope you enjoy this chapter.


	6. +1

Like any other Saturday, they started their weekend with breakfast and the news. Like any other Saturday, they argued about whose turn it was to do the dishes. Like any other Saturday, they spent three hours in the training room. Like any other Saturday, they spent the rest of their day lazing around. Or they planned to, because they never had any reason to think it wouldn’t be like any other Saturday.

—-

One minute they were talking.

“I really think I can trust Nat, you know?” Peter rambled, Ned nodded (he had no idea), “But then it could just be because I’m still kind of scared of her. And then I think, I told her about constellations, she’s actually a bit of a softie. And Sam’s pretty cool, I think I annoy him, but I also think everyone annoys him. Wanda’s, like, awesome but I don’t really trust her yet. I haven’t talked to Steve much, I just don’t know if I want to, because he’s Captain America, but then I know he’s also not all good, so I don’t know.”

“I want to live your life, man,” was Ned’s only response.

The next minute Peter was gone.  
Ned couldn’t find him straight away. He had stopped talking abruptly and run off to help a small girl who was about to be slammed into by a truck. As Peter threw the girl to her parents and safety, Ned was about to start cheering his friend for his heroics but then he realised that Peter was still in front of the quickly moving vehicle. Ned shouted but even over his own voice he could hear the sickening cracking and crushing of bone. He cringed. Peter crumbled like paper, his leg folding in a way legs shouldn’t, no couldn’t, bend.

Around the boys people shouted, they took photos of the number plate of the speeding truck, they checked up on Peter, on the little girl, they screamed, they dialled the police, the ambulance, but Ned knew it was pointless. It wouldn’t help. Peter couldn’t go to a normal hospital. He wasn’t sure how he managed it, maybe someone noticed and didn’t question. But he managed to half drag, half carry his best friend into a hidden alleyway and away from the calamity. Peter was whimpering. Crying for Tony or May, Ned couldn’t tell. He knew Peter was downplaying whatever pain he felt, because Peter was a hero and he wouldn’t want to pass any of the pain onto Ned.

Ned pulled out his phone and scrolled for Tony’s number, but, try as he might, he couldn’t avoid seeing Peter’s mangled leg. The bone looked as though it was trying to break through the skin and it was already a mess of bruises, swelling and veins that popped out. Ned found himself on the verge of tears. He tapped Mr. Stark’s contact.

—-

Tony was aware that Ned had his number, owing to the fact that Ned spent more time with Peter than anyone else, which meant Ned would be there in an emergency if Tony wasn’t. He had never actually expected Ned to call him though. It was impossible to tell whether his heart was beating too fast or had just completely stopped when he saw the contact. Or maybe it had dropped completely and that was why there was an odd pain in his stomach. He hoped he was overreacting.

“Hey N-” Tony didn’t even get in a full greeting before he was cut off.

“Mr. Stark, it was all so fast and there was this car, and Peter and he had no suit, but there was this little girl and then there was this crack and now there’s Peter and oh god I think I might throw up, but I’ve got to help Peter. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god.” Was that Ned sobbing or was it Peter?

Tony felt his suit build around him and he didn’t even have to ask Friday for directions, she just set a course immediately. As much as he tried to convince himself this was just a misunderstanding, he knew it wasn’t like the time Peter got caught in his own webs. Something was very, very wrong. Why couldn’t this suit go faster?

Everything was so slow. Why was everything so slow? How would he get there on time? He had to get there on time. But it was so slow.

An eternity later he arrived to complete chaos. There was people in hysterics, there was people screaming and there was people searching for the boy, the one who needed to go to hospital. The one who could not go to hospital.

Apparently all it took for the Iron Man suit to not be noticed was a girl screaming for the boy who had saved her. Tony flew into the alleyway. His stomach dropped, his son was sobbing, with his body turned into Ned’s shoulder. Only, his right leg didn’t follow the rest of his body and his left ankle was almost the size of a watermelon. He would later be thankful about the fact that he didn’t immediately see the scratches all over Peter’s body. He was sure he wouldn’t have been able to handle that.

Tony wasn’t exactly sure what he said to Ned. He knew it was something about promising to call and update him on the situation. But it may not have been because everything sounded like gibberish to him in that moment. He flew straight for the Compound and Peter faded in and out of consciousness in his arms. Tony mumbled sweet nothings. For whatever reason he thought his voice might help Peter. He hoped his voice might help Peter.

When the Compound came into view he thought he might just fly straight into the med bay level. That would be quickest. The nagging in the back of his mind reminded him that flying through glass would only hurt Peter more. Instead, he flew in through the closest open window he could find. It was lucky that the window ended up being in the private quarters. He didn’t stop as he sped through the next to floors. He didn’t stop as he passed the other Avengers (who all began to chase after him). He didn’t stop when the medical staff. He flew into the private room, placed Peter on a bed and let the suit retract around him.

“Tony, what’s going on?” Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Never in his life had he been so glad to hear Helen Cho’s voice.

Tony stepped aside, giving Helen a clear view of the sobbing teenager. She gasped slightly, but then got straight to work. Rhodey and Pepper came to a halt beside Tony, quickly followed by Vision, Wanda, Steve, Nat and Sam. Pepper let out a sob and her hand immediately found Tony’s.

“What’s going on?” Steve demanded, “Why isn’t he at a normal hospital?”

Tony shook his head, “He can’t be. Then they’ll know.”

Sam, Steve and Wanda looked rather confused. Nat sighed, “Peter is Spider-Man. I’m assuming his got different DNA.”

Sam went pale. Steve opened his mouth, but no one got a chance to say anything because an ear-splitting scream echoed around them from the bed. Tony began to pace around the room, running his hands through his hair. Everyone else stood still. No one knew what to do.

“Shouldn’t you knock him out with some drugs?” Sam asked. It was clear that the boy’s leg needed to be pushed back into place, or it would heal wrong. But it was also clear that he was struggling and that doing that would put him in more pain. So why was no one putting him to sleep?

“Tony, the amount of drugs it would take just further how unsafe the procedure could be. The amount it would take to knock him out,” Helen explained, “it could kill him.”

Tony nodded and clenched his jaw, “It’s not worth the risk.”

“No,” Peter cried, “No, no, please, please knock me out. Please do it.”

Tony walked over and sat beside Peter. He took his hand, “It’s not safe.”

Peter was shaking, “Please,” he begged, “Please, it hurts so much. Please, Dad?” There was tears staining his cheeks as he stared at Tony. His lips quivered and his hands constantly clenched and unclenched.

Tony shook his head.

“You could do it,” Peter whispered, “You could just hit me…” His red eyes flicked between Tony and Steve, begging for one of them to do it. “It hurts.” How was it that Tony was only noticing now how slurred his voice was?

Tony looked at him, “I can’t. I’m sorry.” His voice cracked.

Peter looked at Steve. He looked more childlike than he ever had, with tears on his face and sobs spilling from his mouth. Steve nodded. Tony actually looked gratefully. He pressed a kiss on Peter forehead then walked away.

Steve walked over and watched Peter for a moment. He lifted his fist. Tony’s heart threatened to break for his chest and he silently wished that this was the last time he ever saw Peter like this.

He didn’t think there was any way that he could deal with seeing Peter fall apart like this ever again. As Steve swung his arm Tony had to turn away and avoid the urge to stop him. Pepper buried her head in his chest and Tony found that it wasn’t just a hurt Peter that invaded his mind, but images of a red white and blue shield flying at him, hitting his heart. He wondered if that had hurt him as much as seeing Peter this way did. He wondered why he couldn’t remember.

No one was really aware of Helen pushing them out, they just eventually noticed that they were no longer in the same room as Peter. Pepper whispered something about calling May and then slipped out of the room. Her absence only seemed to make it more painful and Tony wished she would come back. Tony turned to see disapproving eyes.

“Peter is Spider-Man! Tony he’s just a kid, he shouldn’t be-” Steve started.

“Not right now. I just I can’t, he’s hurt and that’s not okay and you just knocked him out even though he’s a kid.” Tony’s voice broke, he knew Steve had done the right thing by Peter but he didn’t like it, “I can’t deal with this.”

He pushed open the door and walked back into Peter’s room, because it didn’t matter all that much if he couldn’t be in there. He had to be.

Before following him, Rhodey turned to look at the others, “You can come back in later,” he told them.

When Pepper walked back in there was a dark haired woman with her and Happy. It seemed they had gotten there fast, but no one really knew how time was moving in those moments.

Those outside stood in silence for a long time. Steve sighed and finally broke it, “I just can’t believe it’s Peter, he’s so young and so-”

“Clumsy?” Wanda cut in. Steve nodded.

“I’ve been telling you the whole time!”

“Sorry, Nat, we’ll just listen to you from now on,” Sam snapped, “He’s just a kid. We fought him. We fought a kid,” he shook his head, “I sent him flying out a window, dammit.”

“It’s not your fault, besides I doubt anything could be said that would make Peter stop,” Wanda told him.

“I really didn’t think Peter would be good at keeping secrets,” Steve informed the others.

Nat raised a brow, “He’s not.”

It made them all think. Maybe they didn’t like the idea of someone so young doing such a job, but it was true they couldn’t stop Peter. And they had seen plenty of Spider-Man conspiracy theories which showed how little he had started with. That showed how his equipment had suddenly improved after the ‘civil war’. It was obvious that Tony helped the boy. It became obvious that they were all going to do whatever they could to support the boy.

And so, when Tony came out of the room again Steve didn’t lecture him about how irresponsible he was. Instead he said:

“You’ve got a really brave kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, every time I try I am reminded why I shouldn’t write angst. Oh well.  
> Okay, I’m so sorry that this took so long to post. I’ve been on planes for a couple of days and I had this chapter written, but I hated the end so I took a while to revise it.  
> Anyway, it’s here now and I hope you all enjoy! As always, I’m overwhelmed by the support this fic has received. I can’t thank you all enough!  
> Also, look out for the next fic of the series, it’s unnamed as of yet, but I’ll try and get it out soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so first off I want to say a huge sorry to everyone! It took me so long to get this up and every time I was going to post it something got in the way. I just had a really busy exam week, then I really hurt my arm and I was sick so... Nevermind that though, I feel really bad about not getting this up sooner, so I'm sorry.  
> Next, as always, I want to thank everyone who reads these stories. I am continuously blown away by the support they get! I can't explain how much it means to me.  
> Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this. I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but I do have another busy exam week so I don't know when that will be.


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